Chapter Text
Corrin felt her stomach drop the second she locked eyes with the smiley raven-haired girl dragging her blonde companion behind her. She’d honestly hoped that she wouldn’t turn up at all.
Fucking Coil. It hadn’t been enough for him to kidnap her, forcing her to pick between being his dog and dying a horrible death at the hands of a psychopath. It hadn’t been enough to treat her like she was disposable, forcing her to go and raise a ruckus in Empire territory despite knowing how eager they were to put a… You know what, best to not repeat that, even in her head. At least throw her at people who could get her identity right! God!
Now he had ordered her to backstab the one person who had actually been willing to help her throughout all of this bullshit, by feeding whatever information she could to him while patting this up-and-coming hero on the back and pretending to be her friend.
It wasn’t enough to deal with all the threats and ‘reminders’ of what would happen to her if she tried to turn against him, either. The nightmares she’d had of waking up on an operating table in time for a soft spoken man to press a scalpel into her forehead, or Purge finding her, were far more effective at scaring her than anything that fucking snake could do to her short of making them a reality.
The scrape of chairs brought her back to the present, and she brushed a lock of hair away from her face. The raven-haired girl smiled at her as she sat down across from her, and Corrin felt her guts twist once more. At least the blonde was just giving her that annoying smirk, she could deal with that.
“Hey, sorry I’m late. Had to stop for a moment and help my friend. She was… In a bad situation.” The way she grimaced, Corrin couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, though the other girl didn’t seem to notice as she continued on. “You weren’t kidding about the whole ‘knowing when I see you’ thing. Your hair’s pretty distinctive.” She smiled and laughed, holding out her hand. “I’m Sunny. Nice to meet you!”
She grinned back as she shook Sunny’s hand, preening slightly at the attention. Her hair was one of her best features, and dyeing half of her brown mop pink had just felt right. It never bothered her, no matter whether it was a fem day or a masc day or even a non day, and hearing people compliment her over it only affirmed that.
It helped her stomach the twist of guilt she felt.
Picking up her coffee cup, she tapped the name written on it, causing both Sunny and the blonde she’d brought with to peer at it and nod. Talking was for people who could stand hearing themselves speak.
The blonde in particular started to get another smug look on her face. “Not much of a talker, are you?” Sunny opened her mouth to say something as Corrin blinked, only for the blonde to laugh. “I’m only messing with her. She’s an elective mute, Sunny. Her voice bothers her.”
Corrin froze as Sunny scolded her companion, the words reaching her ears as distant noise.
How the fuck does she know that.
She swallowed, and the blonde’s grin warped, growing wider and foxlike. Fuck, had Coil sent someone along to make sure she was following his orders? Did that bastard send a cape to supervise her? To peer into the mind of Brockton Bay’s newest cape while sending a message that she couldn’t escape from his grasp, as a reminder that if she stepped out of line she was replaceable? Any guilt or concern she’d felt for the blonde had vanished, replaced by fear and anger.
Corrin squirmed in her seat a little. This was not how she had expected things to go. She didn’t want to be the reason someone else had that bastard’s hands wringing their throat, and now she didn’t have a choice- at least, not unless she wanted to be served up on a platter to a serial-killing pyromaniac.
She didn’t want this.
Sunny seemed to pick up on her discomfort and turned a scowl on the blonde, causing her to flinch slightly. “C’mon, don’t be an ass, Lisa.” The girl- this ‘Lisa,’ had the wherewithal to at least pretend to look a little sheepish, the rest of her smile falling off her face and twisting into something resembling embarrassment before Sunny turned back to her. “Sorry, I think she’s still kinda worked up after what happened. She’s… Got every reason to be.”
Corrin nodded, carefully schooling her body language to prevent the silent scream of ‘LIKE FUCK SHE DOES’ from escaping as she gestured towards the nearby stairs. Best to get this over with as soon as possible now, especially since she couldn’t warn Sunny off.
Fucking Coil.
Lisa nodded, eyes only leaving Corrin for a brief moment to glance up the stairs. “Private booths, hm? Fancy ones, too.” She glanced back at Corrin for a moment, her eye twitching briefly. What, does the blonde bitch have a problem with not discussing cape shit in public?
“Alright!” Sunny clapped her hands together as she stood up, drawing attention back to her. “I’m gonna grab myself a hot chocolate and a pastry first, so you two can head up without me. Lisa, what do you want?”
The blonde’s expression softened into a smile as she looked back at the perky ravenette. “Espresso for me. One cream, two sugars. You don’t have-”
“Oh hush. I’m doing this because I want to.” She smiled wider at her ‘companion’ huffing. “Be with you in a sec!”
And with that, she hurried off to join the slowly growing line in front of the counter. Corrin glanced over at Lisa, who was shaking her head and sighing with a smile on her face. “Let’s… Let’s just go upstairs already.”
Corrin just shrugged in response, trying to project an aura of hey, I didn’t say anything, as dread continued to settle into her gut while she climbed the stairs, leading the blonde up and into a room filled with booths, each and every one of them equipped with a privacy curtain. Lisa stared at them for a moment, her smile widening slightly.
“Wonder how the owners of this place got the money for Tinkertech curtains.” She commented idly as she slipped into one of the booths. Corrin shrugged again, brushing the curtain aside and ducking underneath it to step inside-
Only to look up and find the blonde bitch pointing a taser at her face, looking positively murderous.
Slowly, she raised her hands into the air.
She swallowed, feeling her heart start to thump in her chest. She did not want to be tased; with her reflexes, she could probably dodge it before the twin needles made contact, but at this distance, it wasn’t a sure thing. Super-reflexes didn’t mean super speed.
Though, she couldn’t help but wonder why a taser and not a real firearm. The curtains would be more than enough to muffle a gunshot.
She grit her teeth, palms growing sweaty as she racked her brain for whatever she had done to piss off that bastard enough to threaten her with a public electrocution and risk driving away the Changer he was so eager to get his hooks into-
The taser tapped against her chest.
“Knew you were working for him… Alright, bitch,” Lisa snarled, glaring at Corrin like she was a particularly unpleasant bug she’d just found crushed underneath her shoe. “You’re going to tell me just what Coil’s got planned for Sunny. You will not breathe a word of Sunny’s identity to him, and you will leave without a fuss afterwards, or else-”
She paused to wave her phone in Corrin’s face with her other hand, the PRT’s emergency line already dialed, “I will ram one of Armsmaster’s halberds so far up your ass you’ll need Tinkertech maintenance to use a bathroom. Understood?”
Corrin blinked, opening her mouth as if to respond, closing it, and then opening it again.
Huh?
~~~~~
By the time Sunny got back, Corrin was shaking with barely contained laughter as Lisa stared at the table, massaging her temples. She no doubt had a headache raging around in her skull, and Corrin only felt slightly bad for causing it.
Gently setting a coffee cup marked ‘espresso’ in front of Lisa, Sunny eyed the taser sitting on the table as she sat down next to the blonde, placing her own spoils in front of her. “Do… Do I even want to know?”
“No.” Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose.
Corrin shook harder.
Sunny removed an apple fritter from the paper bag she’d had, taking a slow, concerned bite out of the pastry and chewing for a while before sighing. “Can I trust you two to not kill each other?”
She sounded like a beleaguered babysitter. Corrin could feel her face turning red trying to hold the laughter in.
“Yes.” Lisa sounded like she’d bitten into a lemon as she picked up her coffee. A tiny wheeze escaped Corrin, causing Sunny to glance at her with an expression of concern on her face. The blonde merely rolled her eyes as she took a sip, her expression relaxing slightly as she exhaled a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sunny.”
“No problem. Um, Corrin, is everything alright? Do you need me to call a doctor or something? You’re turning purple.”
That was the breaking point. She tipped to one side, wheezing laughter leaking out as her fist thumped against the table and tears poured down her cheeks.
“She’s fine. Things turned out to be different than I thought they were, and…” She grimaced and shot a glare at Corrin, who was already nodding rapidly. “Ugh, fine. I misread the situation and nearly made an ass of myself. Happy?”
Corrin gave her a thumbs up, making Lisa scowl and return a very different finger. “Oh, fuck you.” Grumbling, she turned her attention back to Sunny. “Okay, so, first order of business. Corrin here’s working for the same guy as those thugs were.” She paused just long enough for Sunny to shoot her a murderous glare, a grin forming on her face as the smile slid off of Corrin’s in a hurry. Ohfuck- “Although, she’s not doing it willingly.”
“Explain.” Sunny’s voice was cold enough to freeze blood.
“She got grabbed, like I almost did. Offered her a choice between a collar and a bullet, and now she’s stuck running jobs for him. You rescued her from Victor, right? That put you on his radar, and now he wants you under his control.” Lisa paused, taking a sip of her espresso. “He was banking on using her and my power to try and force you under his control. Probably use you as a spy in the Wards or force you to go villain, but you’ve definitely fucked that plan over.”
Corrin stared at the smug blonde while Sunny simmered angrily, her grin only growing wider in response. How the hell did she- who was this girl?! She hadn’t explained a thing to her, and yet-
“I’m psychic.”
BULLSHIT.
Her disbelief must have shown on her face, because Lisa snorted. “Sunny here had the exact same reaction when I told her. I’ll see about giving you the proper rundown in a bit.”
The smile on her face grew into something that had gone past vulpine and straight into predatorial, an evil, malicious thing more evocative of a demon than the teenager who wore it. “Anyways, back to your little snake problem- both of us hate his guts, and I get the feeling that Sunny isn’t going to stop until he’s been run out of the bay after what he tried to pull.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sunny’s expression somehow grow stormier. “Wanna help us make his life as miserable as possible?”
Corrin’s own grin was an ugly, twisted thing at the mere thought of getting some degree of revenge on Coil. The idea of getting back at the utter bastard who’d stolen her life from her, who’d hauled her away in an unmarked van after clapping her in brute cuffs in the middle of the night while she slept, who’d dangled Purge in front of her as a threat that she couldn’t just shrug off.
She wanted it to be long, drawn out, and painful. She wanted him to feel every ounce of suffering she had gone through with his boot on her throat.
Corrin nodded- and then both she and Lisa burst out into loud, witchy cackles that made Sunny scoot away slightly. It took a while for the two girls to get it out of their systems, and by the time that they did, Sunny looked mildly grateful for the Tinkertech curtains preventing any sound from exiting the both.
Lisa just kept on smiling, traces of heat and venom still hanging at the corners of her grin. “Alright, welcome to our ragtag band of misfits, you’re a founding member and your jacket is in the mail. If we’re going to be working together, let’s do some proper introductions.” Flipping an errant lock of hair over her shoulder, the blonde extended a hand towards Corrin. “I’m Lisa Wilbourn, a Thinker- my power allows me to basically play Sherlock. Sunny saved me from getting kidnapped by our mutual enemy not too long ago, and I’d like to make sure I stay out of his hands. I guess I could help bail you out while I’m at it.” Her grin widened once more, though this time it was ‘merely’ foxlike rather than wolfish.
Corrin grinned back, giving her a firm shake as the blonde continued on. “Annnd You’re Corrin, also known as Circus, a Shaker-Thinker… Stranger? Really? That’s what the PRT would give you? Weird.” She nodded to herself, ignoring the bemused looks she was receiving from the other two occupants of the booth. “You’re a Shaker-Thinker-Stranger grab-bag with powerful pyrokinesis, a small Manton-limited pocket space that you can store things in, and lastly a Thinker ability that gives you enhanced reflexes, coordination, aim, and balance, along with a spatial awareness that borders on a sixth sense. Did I get everything?”
Corrin just stared at her while the blonde’s shit-eating grin returned, shaking her head in disbelief.
Fucking Thinkers. At least this one was on her side for once.
Sunny laughed, eyes shining with amusement at the exchange. “Last but not least, I’m Sana Campbell, but please just call me Sunny. I’m a Changer- I use special cassette tapes that I make to transform.” Digging in her bag, she produced a cassette player, a pair of headphones, and two tapes. “I… Hear things. And sometimes those things form songs. Recording those songs on the tapes gives me another form to take.”
Lisa gave the black-haired girl a strange look as Corrin picked up the player and began to fiddle with it. “That… Makes you sound like some kind of music Tinker.”
“Ha ha ha, no. This isn’t Tinkertech- the tapes will work with any player that fits them, and are completely ordinary outside of being absurdly durable.” She popped open the player as Sunny and Lisa bantered, peering inside. “Though sometimes I can hear their songs even when I’m not playing them, like they’re begging to be used. I’ve got more in common with Dauntless than Armsmaster.”
Corrin held one of the tapes up to her ear, eliciting a snort from Sunny. Nope, nothing. “Guess you can’t hear it. That one’s been humming ever since I sat with you downstairs.”
“Anyways, I do have a couple of rules when making tapes- for starters, I have to participate in the recording of the song, and I have to be the one who pushes the record button.” She paused, taking a sip of her drink as Lisa gingerly put a hand to her forehead. “Uh, everything okay?”
“‘M fine.” The blonde sure didn’t sound like it as she reached for her espresso. “Just overused my power is all. It’s going wild trying to figure out your power; keeps insisting that you’re not a Changer, but that you have a Changer power. Makes no fucking-”
Corrin clicked the play button on the cassette player, and then everything became static. When the veil cleared, she found Lisa and Sunny staring at her with wide eyes, and- hang on, were those HORNS in the corner of her vision?
“...Sense.”
She reached up, and ran her hand, which was now adorned with a thin layer of black wool and slightly transparent, over the keratin that jutted out of her temple, curled, and ended in a sharp point somewhere around her chin, smooth and cool to the touch.
Something inside of Corrin told her they were more than hard enough to leave dents in steel.
Sunny swallowed audibly as Corrin started to shake, panicked eyes pleading with the younger cape. “You… You might want to turn back. I’ve only ever been able to maintain that form for three minutes before it shorts out and ruins the tape. I-It’s easy enough, just- Just think about it?”
It took barely a thought for her to revert back, the cassette player reappearing in her hands- though the shaking didn’t stop right away.
“Well. That explains a lot.” Lisa drawled, throwing back another gulp of her coffee like it was a shot of whiskey.